Thank you all for the helpful responses! We're going to contact the financial aid office at her community college next week to discuss how they handle Pell Grant disbursements specifically. I feel much more confident now knowing that she should receive the full amount she's eligible for, even with free tuition. I'll make sure to ask about state grants and other aid opportunities too!

Congratulations on the negative SAI! That's fantastic news for your daughter's financial aid eligibility. Just wanted to add one more tip - have your daughter check if her community college has any emergency aid funds or completion grants available. Many schools have additional small grants (sometimes $200-500) that students don't even know about. Also, if she's planning to transfer to a 4-year school later, maintaining good grades at community college can help her qualify for transfer scholarships. The combination of Pell Grant plus free tuition is going to give her such a great head start financially!

Update: I waited until this morning and started a fresh application! Made sure my mom used her own FSA ID for the parent signature this time. It went through perfectly and I got my confirmation email already. For anyone else with this problem - yes, you can absolutely start over with a new application if you mess up! Thank you all for the help!

Congratulations on getting it sorted out! This is such a common issue and your experience will definitely help other students who run into the same problem. The FSA ID mix-up between student and parent is probably the #1 signature error we see. It's great that you waited a day before starting over too - sometimes the system needs a little time to clear out the incomplete submission. Best of luck with your financial aid process!

Thanks everyone for the insights! It sounds like the consensus is that while minor adjustments happen regularly, major overhauls like the one that changed the grandparent 529 rules are less frequent, especially right after implementing such significant changes. I feel more confident continuing with our current plan of having my parents contribute to their 529 for my daughter. I'll also make sure to look into how CSS Profile schools might treat these assets differently since some of her target schools might use that. It's really helpful to hear from people who've navigated this system longer than I have. The 80/20 approach of planning based on current rules while maintaining some flexibility makes a lot of sense for us.

Great summary of the discussion! I'm glad you found the perspectives helpful. One additional tip as you move forward - consider setting up a simple spreadsheet to track any FAFSA rule changes that might affect your situation over the next few years. Even minor tweaks to income protection allowances or asset assessment rates can add up. Also, since your daughter is a freshman in high school, you have time to potentially test different strategies. For example, you could see how a small distribution from the grandparent 529 affects your practice FAFSA calculation in her junior year, giving you real data before making bigger decisions for her senior year applications. The fact that you're thinking about this now puts you way ahead of most families who don't start financial aid planning until the last minute. Keep staying informed, but don't let the uncertainty paralyze your planning efforts!

UPDATE: Success! I finally got this resolved yesterday. Here's what worked for me: 1. Used Claimyr to get through to FSA quickly (seriously saved me hours of hold time) 2. Asked specifically for the Application Processing department 3. Explained I needed an "Application Status Override" for my attestation verification 4. Provided my MANVER# and all submission dates The representative confirmed they had all my documents and manually cleared the verification hold on my account. I was able to sign and submit my FAFSA right after the call! Also contacted my financial aid office as suggested, and they were prepared to submit a priority deadline extension if needed. Thank you everyone for your help!

Congratulations Rebecca! This is such great news and thank you for sharing the step-by-step process that worked. I'm currently dealing with the exact same issue (also no SSN, also stuck at signature page) and have been getting nowhere with regular FSA calls. I'm definitely going to try the Claimyr service and ask specifically for "Application Status Override" - I had never heard of that term before this thread. One question - how long did it take for your account to update after the representative cleared the verification hold? Did you try signing immediately or wait a bit? Want to make sure I don't mess anything up when I finally get through!

Update: I called the financial aid office this morning. They were actually super helpful! The counselor said retirement accounts aren't counted as assets on the FAFSA, so our accidental early submission shouldn't affect anything. They confirmed the aid package should be close to what the calculator showed - about $12,500 out of pocket after the merit scholarship, state grant, and work-study option. My son will need to take about $3,500 in federal loans to cover the rest. Thank you all for calming me down! This whole FAFSA process is so stressful, especially with all the changes this year.

So glad to hear you got this resolved! Your experience is actually really helpful for other parents going through the same panic. I'm dealing with FAFSA stress myself right now and seeing your update gives me hope that the financial aid offices are more understanding than we expect. The $12,500 out-of-pocket cost sounds very manageable, especially compared to last year! Your son is lucky to have parents who care enough to double-check everything (even if it led to the early submission panic). That federal loan amount is pretty reasonable too - many students end up with much higher debt loads. Thanks for sharing the outcome - posts like yours really help the rest of us navigate this confusing process!